,OakwindDark Radio was formed in 2010 by Diogo Ferreira and Flavio Silva but only finalised the lineup in 2012.  They’ve now recorded their debut album, Oakwind, and are planning to tour during the year. The vocals are great.  They’re very varied, at times reminding me of The Cult’s Ian Astbury, …

The Crunch may be a new name, but the members certainly aren't new to the music scene. Singer Soren 'Sulo' Karlsson was the singer with Blues-rockers Diamond Dogs, Bassist Dave Tregunna was in Sham 69 and Lords of the new church, Terry Chimes was drummer for The Clash, and Guitarist Mick Geggus was part of the Cockney Rejects.

In 2011 Blues-rock singer Beth Hart and Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa teamed up to record and release 'Don't explain', an album of Soul cover versions. They covered songs from artists including Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Etta James and Aretha Franklin. Now two years on they've teamed up again to release a second album of soul covers - Seesaw.

Delain have enjoyed a very successful few years with their albums steadily increasing in popularity and their shows selling more and more tickets. They've also had problems - the changes at Roadrunner records saw their last album release being delayed much to the band's frustration. They've now signed to Napalm records, home of so many great female fronted bands, and their first release via Napalm is 'Interlude'.

The second day at the HRH AOR and Prog event started early as I was interviewing Arthur Brown two hours before the first band started.  Sadly that meant two hours less sleep than I’d have liked, but the early start was well worth it to chat to such an amazing …

This weekend was to see the first HRH AOR festival and the first HRH Prog festival.  Uniquely both events were being held at the same venue on the same weekend.  This sounded like a crazy idea at first, trying to run two events side by side, but the organisers had …

Tonight was a great lineup – Serenity who once again are playing London, and with them are Visions of Atlantis, here for their first ever UK show.  Both bands have new albums released around the day of the gig, so fans are expecting to hear some new material as well …

I spoke to Crash Summers and Joedy Rose from British band Summers at the HRH AOR festival in Rotherham where they opened the proceedings on stage 2 on the Sunday.  Listen to what they had to say using the player below.   Summers interview http://www.officialsummers.com/    

I spoke to Mikko Von Hertzen, from Prog band Von Hertzen Brothers to talk about their latest album, Nine Lives, their tour, and more, shortly before they went on stage at the HRH Prog festival in Rotherham.  You can listen to what he had to say using the player below. …

I spoke to Sonja Kristina, singer of veteran Prog band Curved Air at the HRH Prog festival in Rotherham shortly before they played in a freezing cold venue, and talked about their upcoming shows, their next album, and more.  You can listen to what she had to say using the …

I spoke to the legendary Arthur Brown at the HRH Prog festival where he had performed with his band Crazy World of Arthur Brown to talk to him about his career, his biggest hit (Fire), and his use of flames on stage.  Understandably given the freezing temperatures in the venue …

I spoke to Romeo’s Daughter at the HRH AOR festival in Rotherham to talk about their career so far, their comeback over the last few years, and their next album.  You can listen to what they had to say using the player below.               …

I have to be honest and say that until I was sent this album to review, I’d only ever heard two songs by the Spin Doctors – their two massive hits from the early ’90s ‘Two princes’ and ‘Little miss can’t be wrong’, both from the album ‘Pocket full of …

London band Skarthia decribe themselves as Melodic Death/Groove Metal.  It’s a good starting point to describe them but doesn’t really give a proper idea of how varied the music is – one of the inherent problems in trying to come up with a short genre description for a band.  The …

Jade Vine is a rock band from London that was formed in 2006 by brothers Constantine and Marios Magdalinos.  They toured as a duo for two years under the name “Uncaused Creation”.  In 2008 they were joined by two new members to become a four piece, and after a year …

Donovan’s Devils are a rock band from New Jersey that formed in 2011.  The band takes it’s name from a unit of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in World War 2 that was commanded by General William Donovan and whihc became known as Donovan’s Devils.  One of the members …

Tonight, for the second time in a week, Shepherds Bush Empire is playing host to a night of great blues music.  Last week it was Joe Bonamassa, and tonight it’s Eric Johnson.  Less well known in the UK than Joe Bonamassa, Texan guitarist Eric Johnson is here as the first …

I spoke to the Barbe-Q-Barbies at the HRH AOR festival in Rotherham to talk about their latest album, live shows and more.   Barbe-q-barbies Interview

The news that Alestorm’s Christopher Bowes had launched a power metal band got my interest straight away.  The thought of Alestorm’s humour being applied to power metal sounded like a perfect match – after all, a lot of power metal lyrics are cheesy and over the top.  With Gloryhammer, Christopher …

Requinox are a heavy metal band from Norway that was formed in 2010.  The members have all played in other bands before joining Requinox.  In 2011 they started touring, both around Norway and in Sweden.  In 2012 they entered the studio to record their debut album, and released ‘Through the …